It would be easy to categorize your music with the Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson genre. Is that a fair comparison?
I grew up listening to Marilyn Manson so naturally he left a mark on me. I think Marilyn Manson’s “Antichrist Superstar” was to me what The Beatles “White Album” was to Charles Manson. In a way, it called me up and programmed me for the future. Bands like Nine Inch Nails and Insane Clown Posse have proven that you don’t need a five-piece band to make great music or give birth to a culture. My music is driven by artificial intelligence and technology but my roots are in heavy metal and rock ‘n roll. It’s a compliment to be included within a genre that has such great artists, but I don’t ever think it’s fair to compare me to other artists because they are who they are and I am who I am.
Musically-speaking, who are your influences? Artistically-speaking, who are your influences?
I influence myself more than anyone, but then again I’m a child of my culture. I can’t help but feel and see the world around me and be influenced by it. My feelings and thoughts come out in my music. I don’t see the world like anyone else does. You and I could be looking at the same thing and I see something totally different. Artistically, I’m attracted to extremes and art that pushes the limits of the status quo. I haven’t encountered any artists that can bring to life what I have in my mind, so I’m left to create it myself — although I’ve always enjoyed the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch ever since I was a little boy.
Your Sept. 29 show at the Underground in Bangor was cut short due to “religious fanatics” inciting a riot. Do you find it ironic that said religious people become so angered by your music they behave in opposition to their supposed faith?
It’s a sign of the times. My music simply brings out what is hidden inside of people. We live in a world that saturates us with constant contradiction. Anyone can chant “Jesus” — it doesn’t make them good people. I’m just sad for them because they’re missing out on my message.
What exactly is your message?
I don’t think there is just one message that I’m putting out there for my SKIDZ (Sic Kids Into Damien Zygote) but my message towards religious fanatics is that the time has come for better things. Life is a wake walking dream, not simply a preparation for death. This is our heaven, this is our hell. There is room for all religions if we could focus on ourselves instead of what others are doing. We make ourselves and others suffer in this purgatory that appears to be reality in hopes that we will one day wake up and know what the meaning of life is. The truth is, God is inside us all.
Art should make you feel, whether it’s anger or passion or sadness or whatever. What is it about you or your music that incites such passion and aggression?
It’s really an unexplainable phenomenon. I put so much of myself into my music that it’s almost like communion. My fans feel my emotions and identify with my thoughts. It’s been said that my music contains some intangible power over those who listen and from what I’ve experienced so far, it’s true. Music is the language of the soul.